Ford Fusion promotes with Dragons

The car co has signed on as a first-time sponsor, and Scotiabank is back for a second year with CBC's Dragons' Den.

The Dragons are back for their seventh season on CBC, which premiered last night at 8 p.m., and Ford Canada and Scotiabank have both signed on as sponsors of the pubco’s number two ratings grabber (behind Hockey Night in Canada).

This is the first year Ford Canada has signed on as a sponsor of the show (arranged with its media agency Mindshare and creative shop Y&R), and will be promoting its 2013 Ford Fusion online and during the broadcast through Ford Fusion: Game Changer segments, Jason Day, manager, car marketing communications at Ford Canada, tells MiC.

Over the past few weeks, Ford Canada and the CBC asked “Den Heads,” as Dragons’ Den fans are affectionately called, to “think like a Dragon” and pick the pitcher that they believe the Dragons will award the 2013 Ford Fusion.

The Dragons will select their top ten pay-it-forward pitches where they will be discussed during a segment on each episode of Dragons’ Den this season. The Dragons will award one pitch as the winner, walking away with a 2013 Ford Fusion. One consumer who voted for the winning pitch online will also get a two-year lease on a car, says Day

“The Dragons’ Den target is primarily entrepreneurs in Canada, but it also hits so many other segments much like ours for the Ford Fusion,” says Day. “When we saw the Fusion and the innovation that was in the car we immediately thought of Dragons’ Den as a sponsorship partner.”

Also back this year is Scotiabank (working with PHD), activating by extending its “Richness is…” campaign by asking pitchers on the show to define what the tagline means to them after they face the Dragons. Those comments will run as 15-second spots during the broadcast of the show.

There is also a campaign promoting the show in market now, with media by M2 Universal and creative done in-house at the CBC. The primarily OOH, digital and print-focused campaign is targeting Toronto and Vancouver specifically, with national coverage coming from newspaper buys and a YouTube takeover yesterday, says Nancy Boyle, senior director, communications, marketing and brand at CBC English Services.

Dragons’ Den kicked-off its seventh season by inviting fans down to the CBC for the first annual Dragons’ Den Day in Canada. In addition to a marketplace where past Dragons’ Den businesses were selling their wares, all five Dragons were in attendance, taking live pitches from entrepreneurs and signing autographs for fans.

MiC stepped outside with Gaye McDonald, director of marketing, revenue group at CBC, and Jason Day from Ford Canada to talk about the upcoming season.